Life's Messy
by Hero-of-Winds
Summary: Sometimes it takes a mess to show life's no dream. ShadAmy.


It was a cold morning as Shadow slowly opened his eyes. He blinked twice as his eyes adjusted to the light. He rolled on his right side and smiled. There was Amy, the girl he loved, sleeping peacefully. As he started to get out of bed, the cold air swept toward him, making him retreat back to the warmth of the thick covers.

_Nah, I won't get out of bed just yet, _he thought. He turned back toward Amy and held himself close to her. As his cold feet touched hers, her eyes shot open before she realized who it was. With effort, she managed to roll over to face Shadow, who gave her a peck on the lips.

"Good morning, Amy."

"G'morning, fridge-foot," the pink hedgehog replied, using the nickname for Shadow when his feet were cold in the morning. She managed to wriggle out of his hold, but as she got out of bed, the cold air made itself known to her as well, and she quickly went back under the warm covers.

"I guess the heat still hasn't been installed yet," Shadow said with a chuckle as he held Amy. "But we can't just lay here in bed all day, right?" Amy suddenly made an expression that indicated that she just remembered something.

"Oh, you're right…I'm going shopping for the winter solstice holiday with Tahra and Maria today!" With that, Amy got out of bed and headed down to the kitchen she and Shadow shared with Sonic and Tahra. The four had agreed to share a small house together. It was a simple but practical home that required they share everything except bedrooms.

Shadow, after a few minutes, got out of bed and into a pair of jeans and a deep-red long-sleeved shirt. It took him a while to adjust to wearing clothing aside from shoes, socks and gloves, but now it didn't seem so bad. But as he started to leave, he looked at himself in the mirror…and then he stopped and stared at his reflection. There was something that had been at the back of his mind for a while, and now suddenly surged into his immediate thoughts.

_Is this my life now? _He wondered._ These clothes, this food, this love…it's all…it's all too perfect. _His thoughts started to become words. "This is all a dream…my life could NEVER be this happy!" Shadow started to pace up and down, looking around the room, searching for some sort of indication that this wasn't real.

The sounds of this did not go unnoticed. As Amy was sitting down to a breakfast of reheated French toast and orange juice, she heard Shadow's shuffling around and wondered what was wrong. She went up the stairs and found Shadow amid a pile of clothing, his eyes bloodshot and his breathing like a wheeze. Amy quickly realized that the black hedgehog was going crazy. The two locked gazes before Shadow asked but one question.

"Tell me this isn't a dream, Amy…give me a sign that this life isn't too good to be true." Amy looked around the room, trying to think of something. This was the first time in over four years that Shadow had gone stir-crazy, but this time there was some logic behind it.

Amy also wondered at times how life could be so good. The world was more peaceful than it could have ever been under human domination, and she had everything she could have wanted in life. She thought and she thought, until she came up with an answer: real life was never without its troubles and problems. If it was a dream, these minor problems would not exist.

"Shadow…this room is a wreck!" the pink hedgehog scolded, wagging her finger at Shadow like a mother would. "Unless you clean this room up ASAP, you're gonna be in soooooooooo much trouble, mister!" With that, she left. When she did, the ebon hedgehog calmed down and looked around. There were clothes everywhere, and almost every drawer in the room was open. The place was a mess, but Shadow smiled. The chaotic state of the room brought order back to Shadow's mind, and relieved it of its stress.

"Maybe this IS real…" Shadow muttered. "But if it isn't…I'll just sleep forever." With that, he began to pick up and refold the clothes he had thrown about.


End file.
